For archived Travel Support Guidelines, please visit:

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/travel-support-2012-02-25-en#guidelines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ICANN understands the importance of requirements and practices for protecting personal data.  ICANN is committed to protecting supported travelers’ personal data. Any personal data provided in connection with travel support will be processed in accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy.

ICANN relies in part on the face-to-face interaction of community members to advance policy development and other work. In addition, ICANN is committed to facilitating the participation of those members not yet fully engaged with ICANN. Outside ICANN Public Meetings, much of ICANN’s work is done over the Internet and through conference calls. Community members should consider using authorized tools and methods to participate remotely in ICANN Public Meetings and other approved ICANN events. Even with these options for remote participation, meeting face-to-face continues to be an important part of the ICANN process.

Currently, ICANN supports more than 300 community members to attend each ICANN Public Meeting and spends considerable resources on travel support for community members. The ICANN Organization Travel Support team is dedicated to ensuring that support is implemented fairly, consistently, economically, and with administrative efficiency for all supported travelers and for ICANN. Consistent with ICANN’s commitment to accountability and transparency, these Community Travel Support Guidelines set forth the process and scope of support that ICANN provides to community travelers.

ICANN Travel Support updates these guidelines periodically based on community feedback gathered from:

• Public Comment processes

• Open sessions at ICANN Public Meetings

• Formal consultation with Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees, stakeholder groups, and constituencies

• Individual community members

The guidelines reflect the initial input received from the community consultation conducted between September 2017 and January 2018 and the public comment proceeding conducted from May to July 2018. They also reflect the observations of ICANN Travel Support.

Terminology

The following terms are used in these guidelines:

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): ICANN organization, unless otherwise indicated.
  
  

• ICANN Travel Support: ICANN org Travel Support team.
  
  

• ICANN Public Meetings: Community Forum, Policy Forum, and Annual General Meeting. These meetings take place three times each year in different regions of the world. Additional information is available on the ICANN Public Meetings website.
  
  

• Approved ICANN events: Events requiring travel, but not occurring before, during, and/or after an ICANN Public Meeting. These are meetings that advance ICANN’s mission, e.g., intersessional meetings, review team meetings, workshops, or conferences.

Intended Audience

The Community Travel Support Guidelines are intended primarily for supported travelers attending an ICANN Public Meeting or other approved ICANN event. They also contain information about travel support intended for ICANN community groups that select supported travelers.

Purpose of These Guidelines

These Community Travel Support Guidelines cover the process, guidelines, and scope of the support that ICANN provides its supported travelers.

Purpose of Community Travel Support

ICANN has three primary purposes for providing travel support for ICANN community members:

• Advance the development of ICANN’s technical and policy work by giving community members the opportunity to participate in person.

• Ease the financial hardship for community members who otherwise cannot afford to attend, especially those from underserved regions or countries.

• Conduct outreach, especially to people unfamiliar with the ICANN processes who can benefit from and provide benefit to ICANN.

Participation in the ICANN multistakeholder model comes at a cost of time, energy, effort, and often, direct expense for community members. ICANN and supported travelers must demonstrate fiscal responsibility and strike a balance between the benefits of travel and budgetary constraints. When travel support is economical and feasible, ICANN can support the maximum number of travelers.

In addition to supporting community travel, ICANN and the community are continuously exploring alternative and cost-effective ways to complete ICANN’s work (e.g., remote participation tools).

Scope of ICANN Travel Support

ICANN Travel Support does not select supported travelers. Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees, review teams, the Nominating Committee, other supported groups (e.g., NextGen@ICANN and ICANN Fellowship programs), and ICANN support staff arranging an approved ICANN event determine who receives travel support for a given event. These groups then communicate the names of supported travelers to ICANN Travel Support.

Travel Assistance and Support

ICANN Travel Support’s function is to provide logistical travel assistance to supported travelers. ICANN Travel Support follows a standard process and applies the guidelines uniformly to all supported travelers within the limits of the approved budget for the applicable fiscal year.

Travel support by ICANN is not intended to cover all travel costs. There are inherent discretionary travel costs that a supported traveler may incur that are not eligible for reimbursement and are not within the scope of these guidelines.

Travel Reports

Another responsibility of ICANN Travel Support is to provide visibility into and accountability for travel expenditures. After every ICANN Public Meeting and approved ICANN event, ICANN Travel Support posts reports of nonaudited travel costs – that is aligned with the reporting format that is agreed upon  ICANN Privacy Policy and the website Terms of Service.

Budgetary Considerations

In any given fiscal year, ICANN’s activities, including travel support, are subject to evaluation and changes based on ICANN’s review of available resources. The supported travel allocation for ICANN Public Meetings and other approved ICANN events is included in the ICANN Annual Budget and Operating Plan for each fiscal year. To request changes to the current travel allocation or to request additional travel services, the community should provide input through the Public Comment process.

Standards of Behavior and Anti-Harassment Policy

Supported travelers are expected to follow the ICANN Expected Standards of Behavior and the ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy and Terms of Participation and Complaint Procedure. Any violations may result in ICANN revoking travel support.

Communication Responsibilities

Supported travelers are expected to be responsive to ICANN Travel Support so that it can book flights as early as possible, preferably 90 days before the start of an event.  

ICANN Travel Support attempts to reach a supported traveler four times before deeming the supported traveler unresponsive:

1. ICANN Travel Support sends “welcome email.”

2. If there is no response after seven business days, ICANN Travel Support sends a second email, copying ICANN support staff.

3. If there is no response five business days after the second email, ICANN Travel Support sends a third email, copying ICANN support staff and the community group chair.

4. If there is no response five business days after the third email, ICANN Travel Support sends a fourth email, copying ICANN support staff and the community group chair.

If there is no response three days after the fourth attempt to reach the supported traveler, the community group may substitute another traveler. If the community group is unable to find another substitute, please refer to Travel by the Numbers.

Trip Cancellations

Except for emergencies that pose an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment, supported travelers must inform ICANN Travel Support of their intent to cancel travel plans at least 45 business days before the start of an event. Giving adequate notice provides the community group with the time to find a replacement for the supported traveler and cancel any travel arrangements already made.